IT was bucketing down but the queue was snaking round the side of the building and many in it were from the Far East, so I knew we were onto a winner in choosing Korean restaurant Kimchee for a Tuesday night dinner.
The cuisine is earning a burgeoning reputation on the London dining scene and it is easy to see why - it's fragrant, fresh and healthy but the traditional Korean barbecue also makes it popular with carnivores.
A sleek place with striking hanging lamps and dark wooden lattice panelling, Kimchee is nevertheless a jolly sort of restaurant where you share tables with strangers and tuck into plentiful portions.
The no reservations policy allows for a high turnover which means there's always a buzz in the air, so I thought nothing of attacking the cocktail menu and just having a bit of a blast. I went for the Soju, a Korean spirit similar to vodka, mixed with berry liqueur and topped with fresh fruit, and it slipped down nicely.
We started off sharing a couple of small plates. The prawn and vegetables wrapped in rice paper with a mustard dipping sauce (Prawn Mari) were crunchy and had a sharp kick, while the pan fried chicken dumplings in a soy and chicken sauce (Gogi Mandu) were not stodgy and suitably tangy. Stir fried squid in fiery chilli sauce (Squid Bokeum) was not as hot as it could have been but mercifully didn't fall victim to overcooking.
Plates come quickly from the giant open kitchen and the aroma from the robata grill, used to barbecue fish, chicken and beef, was too tantalising to ignore. Rib-eye steak marinated in garlic and sesame oil was seriously good, juicy and rare, and felt healthy with a chargrilled broccoli side.
All Korean food is accompanied by the traditional Kimchee which is a small salad typically made from beansprouts or pickled radish with the ubiquitous garlic and soy. It acts as an antidote to more gutsy and hot dishes like the Budae Jjigae, which is a bowl of super hot broth with noodles, beef and sausage. It was filling and deliciously meaty.
Green tea ice cream provided a fitting finish to a meal overflowing with flavour and heart. The experience worked out at about £25 per head with drinks, which was a more than acceptable offering for an authentic, buzzy central London location which, judging by demand, is going from strength to strength.
Kimchee
71 High Holborn
WC1V 6EA
0207 430 0956
